Flight Safety Information
July 12, 2013 - No. 142
In This Issue
Asiana Airlines flight attendants told pilots plane was on fire
Lasers a growing concern for aircraft pilots
Asiana Pilots Mentioned Speed Only 9 Seconds Before Crash
Asiana 214: NTSB looking at 'automation complacency'
PAL allowed back into Europe's skies after safety compliance
Passengers, crew all safe after Ben Gurion Airport emergency landing
FAA refuses to rank airlines by safety records
2013 Aviation Human Factors and SMS Seminar - Dallas, July 23-24, 2013
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Drug pellet swallowers trying to get into U.S. at Dallas airport
NASA Debugs Buggy Airplane Wings
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Asiana Airlines flight attendants told pilots plane was on fire
SAN FRANCISCO -- The flight attendants of Asiana Flight 214 reluctantly took center
stage Wednesday, appearing in public for the first time, while the head of the NTSB at a
separate event detailed the vital role many of them played in the critical moments
following Saturday's crash at San Francisco International Airport.
After the pilot ordered passengers to stay in their seats, one attendant spotted flames
outside a window and sent word to the cockpit, triggering a mass evacuation 90 seconds
after the plane came to a stop. Some attendants helped passengers flee while others
grabbed fire extinguishers to fight flames that broke out inside the cabin after most of
the passengers had escaped.
Later, they learned that three of their fellow flight attendants in the back of the Boeing
777 had been ejected -- along with their seats -- when the tail of the plane snapped off
on impact. Those three attendants and three others were hospitalized after the crash.
The six flight attendants who have been interviewed by investigators so far "all shared a
similar experience of an initial impact followed by a secondary impact" that triggered two
emergency slides to inflate inside the cabin, pinning two flight attendants, said Deborah
Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
As Hersman detailed the efforts of the flight crew, six of the plane's 12 flight attendants
arrived under police escort and held a simultaneous and chaotic press conference at
SFO, where they posed for pictures. Some did not open their eyes and some wept.
One appeared in a wheelchair, with an injured leg, and tried to cover her face from a
fusillade of camera flashes. She and four others were ushered to a back hallway as the
cabin manager, Lee Yoon Hye, briefly offered prayers to the wounded and their families.
"We're working as quickly as we can," she said through a translator.
In addition to Lee, the flight attendants were identified as purser Yoo Tae Sik; assistant
purser Lee Jin Hee; and flight attendants Kim Ji Youn, Han Woo lee and Kim Yun Ju.
"This was a very emotional event," said a translator, who refused to give her name.
Two 16-year-old girls were killed in the crash, and investigators are still trying to
determine if one was hit by an emergency vehicle. On Tuesday night, the San Mateo
County Coroner said it was teenager Ye Mengyuan who may have been hit.
At her daily press briefing, Hersman provided other details of the investigation so far:
The NTSB expected to "release" Runway 28L Wednesday night to airport authorities, who
will have to arrange for salvage operations on the damaged plane, as well as make
repairs to the runway and seawall that was damaged in the collision.
"There's still a lot of work ahead before the runway will be reopened," Hersman said.
The plane's "flying pilot" -- who was seated in the left-hand seat and was making his first
landing at SFO in a Boeing 777 -- told South Korean authorities that he was hit with a
"flash of light temporarily at 500 feet (elevation) that blinded him," Hersman said. "We
need to understand exactly what that is."
He told investigators that he had gotten eight hours of sleep the night before the flight
and showed up early at the airport because "he wanted to make sure he was prepared
as he was going to be working with this instructor-pilot
Asiana Airlines flight 214 crew members Yoo Tae Sik, Kim Ji Youn, Lee Han Woo, Lee Jin
Hee, Kim Yun Ju, and Lee Yoon Hye (order unknown) take part in a press conference at
the San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday, July 10, 2013, in San Francisco,
Calif. Lee Yoon Hye is the cabin manager, Yoo Tae Sik, is a purser, Lee Jin Hee is an
assistant purser, Kim Ji Youn is a flight attendant, Lee Han Woo is a flight attendant, and
Kim Yun Ju is a flight attendant. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group) (ARIC CRABB) for
the first time."
Investigators still need to transcribe the cockpit voice recorder that was recovered
immediately after the crash to determine how the pilots interacted.
The "instructor pilot" -- who was sitting in the right-hand seat and was making his first
flight as an instructor -- "is the pilot in command," Hersman said. But investigators want
to know whether he showed "deference" to the pilot making his inaugural landing in a
Boeing 777.
He told investigators that he had received eight hours of sleep the night before the flight
and spent the day relaxing with his family before he showed up at the airport.
32 business class seats were equipped with both shoulder and lap belts. The plane's 271
economy class seats had only lap belts.
All four pilots -- including two "relief pilots" who flew the plane for five hours in midflight
-- were interviewed for about four hours each, Hersman said.
Two minutes after the crash, the first firefighting vehicle arrived on scene. One minute
later, firefighters started applying flame retardant to the right side of the plane.
But it was the actions of the flight attendants that took up much of Hersman's briefing.
After the plane crashed and went into a 360-degree spin on Runway 28L, Lee Yoon Hye
directed the flight attendant sitting next to her to ask the pilots what to do.
"They were told not to initiate an evacuation" because the pilots were in contact with
tower control about the emergency, Hersman said. "They really don't have a good sense
what's going on behind them. ... Hindsight is 20-20."
But another flight attendant saw flames outside a window near Row 10 and sent another
flight attendant back into the cockpit to tell the pilots "there was a fire and they needed
to evacuate."
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_23637529/flight-attendants-told-pilots-
plane-was-fire
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Lasers a growing concern for aircraft pilots
The pilot in the Asiana Airlines crash complaining of being temporarily blinded by a bright
flash in the cockpit has revived concerns about the risks from people pointing lasers at
aircraft.
Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said it
wasn't clear what could have caused the pilot's problem when the plane was 500 feet in
the air. Asked specifically whether it could have been a laser pointed from the ground,
Hersman said she couldn't say what caused it.
"We need to understand exactly what that is," Hersman said. "It was a temporary issue."
Whether at fault in the crash Saturday in San Francisco, lasers have been a persistent,
growing concern for pilots, airlines and federal regulators. While they look relatively
harmless, lasers pointed at a cockpit can temporarily blind pilots and distract them while
they are taking off or landing a plane.
In 2012, there were 3,482 laser incidents, slightly down from the 3,591 the year before
but a stark contrast to the 1,527 incidents in 2009, according to the Federal Aviation
Administration. The 2012 figure was roughly the same as the total number of reports
from 2006 through 2009.
The rising number of laser attacks in 2011 prompted the Federal Aviation Administration
to impose a civil fine of up to $11,000 for "interfering" with a crew by shining a laser into
a cockpit. The fines are easier to pursue than federal criminal sanctions of up to 20 years
in prison and a $250,000 fine for "incapacitating" a crewmember.
Legislation that President Obama signed into law Feb. 14, 2012, criminalized pointing a
laser at an aircraft. The crime is punishable by five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
"Shining a laser into the cockpit of an aircraft is not only criminal, it is a serious safety
issue for pilots," U.S. Attorney David Hickton in Pittsburgh said after the law was
approved. "Many high-powered lasers can completely incapacitate pilots, who are trying
to fly safely to their destinations, and often times with hundreds of passengers aboard."
Passengers on the plane that crashed in San Francisco called 911, begged for help, and
said ambulances weren't coming fast enough. San Francisco officials say ambulances
could not come too close out of concern that the plane would explode. (July 11)
Dozens of lasers were on display in recent protests in Egypt, where members of the
crowd pointed green lasers at helicopters overhead. The effect was apparent to television
viewers when the lasers occasionally pointed toward cameras and blocked the picture.
Law-enforcement officials find it difficult to track down the offenders even when the
pilots report an incident. The reports tend to come from planes and helicopters taking off
or landing at airports, but the laser pointers could be far off in communities surrounding
an airport.
In a November 2012 case, U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld in West Virginia reached
pretrial agreements with three Martinsburg residents charged with pointing a laser at
aircraft near the local airport the previous July. The men received 12 months of
probation and had to perform 120 hours of community service.
Ihlenfeld said he hoped the case would "educate the community that this relatively new
crime is a serious offense with real consequences."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/11/asiana-laser-faa/2508109/
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Asiana Pilots Mentioned Speed Only 9 Seconds Before Crash
By Alan Levin
The pilots of Asiana Flight 214 made no mention of the plane's speed in its final
moments until less than nine seconds before it hit a seawall, U.S. National
Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman said.
From the time the plane descended below 500 feet, the first mention of speed is heard
after an automated system called out an altitude of 100 feet, Hersman said at the
board's last briefing on the accident today.
July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Deborah Hersman, chairman of the National Transportation
Safety Board, speaks at a news conference about the latest developments in the
investigation into the crash landing of an Asiana Airlines Inc. Boeing Co. 777 at San
Francisco International Airport on July 6. (Source: Bloomberg)
There were two calls by pilots to abort the landing -- one three seconds before impact
and the second 1 1/2 seconds later by another crew member, she said. Hersman
previously described only the second call.
One of the pilots can be heard warning, before the plane reached 500 feet, that they
were descending too quickly, Hersman said. That altitude is the point at which Boeing
Co. (BA) advises pilots that they must have the plane in the correct alignment or abort
the landing.
The plane reached 500 feet about 34 seconds before the crash, Hersman said at an
earlier briefing.
There's no evidence on the plane's data recorder that the automatic throttle
malfunctioned, Hersman said. That device on the Boeing 777 is designed to hold the
speed and includes an emergency mode to prevent pilots from getting too slow.
Safety features on the plane appear to have functioned as designed, Hersman said. The
fuel tanks didn't break open, she said. Fires around the jet were fed by an engine that
broke loose and other flammable material, she said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-11/asiana-pilots-didn-t-mention-speed-until-
9-seconds-before-crash.html
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Asiana 214: NTSB looking at 'automation complacency'
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- As reported, when Asiana Flight 214 approached SFO on
Saturday, it was low and very slow -- 103 knots when it should have been flying at 137.
The NTSB continues to investigate how that could happen, especially in "automated
cockpits."
Among the revelations emerging from the aftermath of Asiana 214 are perceptions that
do not match reality -- especially in terms of what airline pilots do to control a plane in a
cockpit. "There have been a lot of questions about auto-pilot, auto-throttle, some of the
auto-flight regimes in the aircraft," NTSB spokesperson Deborah Hersman said Thursday.
Specifically, how could an airliner miss a runway with three trained professionals
managing its systems and supposedly in control? This is where the phrase "automation
complacency" enters the picture.
"Automation complacency is basically where they are letting the plane fly itself and
they're just losing track of where it is," explained Jim Gray of Oakland Flyers. Gray trains
commercial pilots. It's a progression that, for all of them, begins with seat-of-the pants
hand-flying and then evolves as the planes and their systems become more complicated.
By the time they command an airliner like a Boeing 777, much of the flying is actually
hands-off. "So, they're basically putting in the computer the entire route and that factors
in the winds, what the fuel burn is, everything in the whole route," Gray said.
Asked what the difference is between flying and computer programming, Gray said, "Not
that much difference, oddly enough."
If you were to be a fly on the wall of a modern cockpit, you would see more dial turning
than hands on the yoke or throttle. These days, it's possible to pre-program an entire
flight and even a landing, if necessary in bad weather, as auto-piloting and auto-
throttling computer systems talk to each other electronically.
One lingering question surrounding Asiana 214 is when did the crew take over by hand
and how did those systems put them "so far behind the plane," as pilots like to say. "We
need to understand what those modes were, if they were commanded by the pilots, if
they were activated inadvertently, and if the pilots understood what the mode was
doing," Hersman said.
Also, were the pilots so reliant on failed automation that it diminished their skills to save
the landing by hand? "They were certainly behind the airplane and they were complacent
on correcting what was going on," Gray said. Gray's is not an official ruling, but it is an
educated opinion from someone who trains pilots to avoid disasters like this.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=9169889
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PAL allowed back into Europe's skies after safety compliance
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines will fly to European Union countries again, three years
after the EU banned it after the Philippines failed to comply with international safety
standards, ranking EU officials in Brussels and Manila revealed Wednesday.
PAL president and COO Ramon S. Ang said that the flag carrier's first flight to Europe will
be in September or October, with Paris, London, Rome and Amsterdam as the first
destinations.
"The European Air Safety Committee in Brussels lifted the air ban on Philippine Airlines,
effective on 12th of July 2013," Guy Ledoux, delegation head of the European Union in
the Philippines, said at a press briefing.
"This decision is very encouraging and is a first success both for CAAP [Civil Aviation
Authority of the Philippines] and Philippine Airlines," he added.
But other Philippine air carriers haven't qualified yet.
According to a press release from the Delegation of the European Union to the
Philippines, "For all other carriers registered in the Philippines the ban remains, as
further progress is still needed to reach effective compliance with relevant aviation
safety regulations."
In a statement, EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said, "Today we confirmed our
willingness to remove countries and airlines from the list if they show real commitment
and capacity to implement international safety standards in a sustainable manner."
In 2010, the EU blocked direct flights from the Philippines based on "safety assessments
by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)."
"When we fly back to Europe after an absence of 15 years, we can boast of a newer fleet
of aircraft and top quality customer service," PAL president and COO Ramon Ang said in
a statement.
Only last May, PAL took delivery of its fifth Boeing 777-300ER, bringing its total fleet
count to 45.
Safety standards
The EU said in a news release from Brussels that the Philippines was one of nine
countries recognized for their efforts to "reform their civil aviation system and to
improve safety, in order to eventually become able to guarantee the effective application
of international safety standards."
"Taking into account the improved safety oversight provided by the competent
authorities of the Philippines, and the ability of the air carrier Philippine Airlines to ensure
effective compliance with relevant aviation safety regulations, and following an on-site
safety assessment visit last June, it was decided to lift the ban affecting this carrier
registered in the Philippines," the EU said in a news release.
In Manila, the EU's envoy, Ledoux, explained that PAL's safety improvements and CAAP's
better oversight capabilities prompted the EU to lift the ban.
"The new management introduced new standards following the requirements set by EU,"
Ledoux said in the sidelines of the press briefing. PAL has been under the management
of San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang since last year, after SMC acquired a minority
stake in the airline.
Philippine Airlines' fifth Boeing 777 jet was delivered earlier this year. Image courtesy of
PAL
CAAP supervision
In June, CAAP director general Gen. William Hotchkiss flew to Brussels to meet with EU's
Air Safety Committee (ASC), bringing credentials for PAL and its application to fly to
three European destinations under the European Community Safety Assessment of
Foreign Aircraft (EC SAFA) Program.
Under the EC SAFA program, the CAAP is required to perform Safety Assessment of
Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) Ramp Checks on PAL aircraft flying into the EU, and relay the
results to EU member states and the EC.
US ban
Hotchkiss III expects the US Federation Aviation Authority to follow suit. "[We expect a]
possible category upgrade before the end of this year," he said.
Representatives from the US-FAA are currently in the country right now for a 10-day
visit before the foreseen lifting of the ban imposed on Philippine carriers from mounting
additional flights to the US.
Other airlines
Ledoux noted that other carriers that did not make the cut in the audit conducted last
month may still try their luck again at the upcoming air safety meeting on November 29.
"We continue to closely monitor and conduct further review on other airlines such as
Cebu Pacific," he said.
"Cebu Pacific decided not to go to Brussels [for the air safety committee meeting] to
concentrate their efforts to analyze what happened in Davao to ensure...that this kind of
incident does not happen again," he added.
Lasty month, a Cebu Pacific flight skidded off the runway in Davao City, causing the
airport to shut down for two days. The passengers and crew were able to disembark
safely.
PAL statements
At the same press briefing, PAL president and COO Ramon S. Ang revealed that the flag
carrier's first flight to Europe will be in September or October.
"The first flight [destinations] will be Paris, London, Rome and Amsterdam. As you all
know, we have recently acquired a long-range Airbus. We have all the right equipment
to serve European customers," Ang said. In a separate statement, the CEO mentioned
that the airline will also fly to Frankfurt and Madrid.
He added that PAL is entitled to fly seven times a week to London and Paris, but has to
renew its flight entitlement to other countries.
PAL's last commercial flight to the EU was in 1999 - with Reuters/VS/BM/ELR/HS, GMA
News
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/316895/economy/business/pal-allowed-back-
into-europe-s-skies-after-safety-compliance
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Passengers, crew all safe after Ben Gurion Airport emergency landing
All 170 passengers and crew members were safe and injury free after Greek charter
plane made emergency landing. The plane at Ben Gurion after emergency landing, July
11, 2013.
The plane at Ben Gurion after emergency landing, July 11, 2013. Photo: Magen David
Adom, Courtesy All 170 passengers and crew members were uninjured when a Greek
charter plane made an emergency landing at Ben-Gurion Airport on Thursday at noon,
the Israel Airports Authority reported.
The Airbus, flight HRM 7332 from Crete to Tel Aviv, likely experienced a hydraulic glitch
in its steering system, causing the airport ground crew to declare a State of Emergency
Level 2 prior to the emergency landing, the IAA said. Shmuel Zaki, the manager of Ben-
Gurion Airport, oversaw the emergency preparations from the facility's Ramon tower and
closed Israel's airspace - directing planes on their way here to land at alternative sites.
Meanwhile, after receiving a call at 11:37 a.m., Magen David Adom emergency crews
rushed to the airport from the Yarkon, Gush Dan, Ayalon, Lachish and Jerusalem regions
to await the plane's landing, with dozens of motorcycles, ambulances and mobile
intensive care units, the emergency organization said. In addition to IAA and MDA crews,
teams from the IDF's Home Front Command as well as the Israel Police and the Israel
Fire and Rescue Services also prepared themselves at the airport.
"The regular training exercises of the MDA with the security and rescue forces of the
State of Israel proved again today that within minutes of receiving news of the
emergency situation at Ben-Gurion Airport, dozens of mobile intensive care units and
ambulances arrived and were prepared to provide care and address any possible
scenario," said MDA director-general Eli Bin.
By 12:15 p.m., the pilot had completed the landing operation safely, and the emergency
situation was canceled, an MDA report said. The plane drove to the end of the airport
runway and the pilot shut down the engine, while the firefighting crew cooled the wheel
system, IAA explained. A few minutes later, ground crews led the plane by trailer to the
parking area, and the passengers were transferred to Terminal 3 of the airport, the
authority added.
The plane in question belonged to Hermes Airlines, a Greek charter airline that is a
subsidiary of the French company Air Méditerranée.
http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Plane-to-make-emergency-landing-at-Ben-Gurion-
airport-319491
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FAA refuses to rank airlines by safety records
Picking a safe airline
U.S. air travelers terrified of disasters like the crash of Asiana Flight 214 face a
frustrating dilemma when trying to avoid airlines with scary safety records.
That's because the Federal Aviation Administration refuses to publicly rank air carriers on
safety. The agency does list countries with substandard aviation-safety rules. But it still
allows their airlines to fly into the U.S. and offers no guidance on their relative risk to
passengers.
Consumer advocates contend the flying public deserves better.
"It's maddening," said John King, an air-travel safety advocate and former airline
mechanic who blew the whistle on problems at now-defunct Eastern Airlines. "What the
heck is the public supposed to
Two of three charter buses possibly caring passengers from Asiana Airlines Flight 214
visit the crash site as a plane comes in for a landing at San Francisco International
Airport, in South San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, July 10, 2013. The Boeing 777
plane operated by a Korean airline crashed as it was landing at SFO on Saturday, July 6
killing two and injuring close to 200 passengers. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group) (
ANDA CHU ) do," he added, "if the cop on the beat isn't doing its job?"
Yet the FAA sees no reason to issue carrier-safety ratings.
"There currently is no evidence in accident data that would support the ranking of
individual airlines based on their safety records," the agency insists on its website. And
because air accidents are rare, it adds, they provide no guide "to consumers seeking to
make safety-enhancing comparisons for current or future travel choices."
Asked why the agency couldn't rate airlines by combining accident data with such factors
as maintenance and training deficiencies, the relative age of their planes and how often
they have near misses with other aircraft, an FAA spokeswoman who said she was
forbidden from being
quoted by name dismissed the idea out of hand.
Passengers shouldn't worry, she said, since "most airlines operate well above FAA
standards." And because FAA inspectors monitor carriers, she added, "we know exactly
what's going on in each airline."
For the 600-or-so foreign airlines that fly in the U.S., the FAA does evaluate the "safety
oversight standards" of the countries where they are based. A total of 24 "category 2
countries" -- including Bangladesh, Guyana, Serbia and Nicaragua -- fail to meet FAA
guidelines. But those nations' airlines can still fly in the U.S. "under heightened
surveillance" by the FAA, according to its spokeswoman.
No airlines from those 24 countries currently fly into Bay Area airports.
Richard Kebabjian, whose website planecrashinfo.com tracks airline disasters,
acknowledges it's a tough task to advise consumers which carriers to avoid.
"There are many factors that contribute to the safety rating of an airline that include
accident history, maintenance and operational procedures, types of training programs,
age of fleet, specific routes flown and just plain luck," he said. "Then there are different
ways to calculate risk. Is it number of flights, number of passenger miles flown or
number of hours in the air? How many years do you go back? Five years, 10 years, 20
years?"
Others note that airlines aren't always at fault when their planes crash, as was evident
during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Some air-travel websites offer safety rankings.
Airlineratings.com uses stars to rate airlines -- with the best getting seven -- based on
whether they've been grounded by authorities, had fatalities, are banned by the
European Union and other factors.
A private German website (www.jacdec.de), run by the Jet Airliner Crash Data
Evaluation Centre, offers different rankings based on "thousands of entries of all kinds of
safety occurrences since the beginning of commercial aviation." Of the 60 airlines it
ranks for safety, China Airlines is dead last. But, in an illustration of the lack of uniform
standards for airline safety rankings, China Airlines gets the top seven stars from
Airlineratings.com.
Similarly, South Korea's Asiana Airlines -- whose crash in San Francisco on Saturday
killed two and injured dozens -- ranks a relatively low 46 on the German site, but gets
six stars from Airlineratings.com.
Todd Curtis, founder of the website AirSafe.com, said all carriers generally "have to have
their stuff together" when operating in other counties. But he said it can be precarious
flying foreign-based airlines that operate solely within their own borders, because some
countries lack even rudimentary safety standards for domestic flights.
Comparing those airlines is especially difficult because it's hard to obtain safety records
for many foreign carriers, said Mary Schiavo, an aviation lawyer and former U.S.
Transportation Department inspector general, who also favors having the FAA publish
such ratings.
Trying to rank airlines herself a few years ago, she discovered "there was no one
database of all the international accidents." So Schiavo advises travelers to stick with
airlines flying out of regions with the most rigorous regulations, such as Europe, New
Zealand, Australia, Japan, Canada and the United States.
But some consumer advocates say passengers shouldn't assume U.S.-based airlines are
risk free. They contend the carriers often fail to report potential maintenance or other
dangers involving their planes to the FAA and are rarely punished for such omissions
because the agency is cozy with the industry.
Although the FAA denied the accusation, "this issue is something FlyersRights.org has
fought to change since its inception," said Kate Hanni, who founded the Napa-based
group in 2006. Contending the agency too often leaves it to airlines to self-report safety
concerns, she added, "does anyone see a problem with the fox guarding the henhouse?"
Contact Steve Johnson at sjohnson@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5043. Follow him at
Twitter.com/steveatmercnews.
rating airline risk
Here's a list of the world's 10 safest airlines as rated by the Jet Airliner Crash Data
Evaluation Centre, a private German website, www.jacdec.de. These rankings don't
always agree with those from other websites, such as www.Airlineratings.com.
1. Finnair
2. Air New Zealand
3. Cathay Pacific
4. Emirates, of the United Arab Emirates
5. Etihad Airways, of the United Arab Emirates
6. EVA Air, of Taiwan
7. TAP Portugal
8. Hainan Airlines, of China
9 Virgin Australia
10. British Airways
http://www.mercurynews.com/traffic/ci_23643474/faa-doesnt-rank-airlines-by-safety-
records
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2013 Aviation Human Factors and SMS Seminar - Dallas, July 23-24, 2013
Just under a month until the 2013 Aviation Human Factors and SMS Seminar in Dallas,
July 23-24 at the Frontiers of Flight Museum, from 8-5 each day.
The seminar fee is $100. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.
We have a great speaker lineup, entertaining venue and a chance to share best practices
with your fellow professionals.
FMI: http://www.signalcharlie.net/Seminar+2013
Registration: http://www.signalcharlie.net/Seminar+Registration+2013
Kent B. Lewis
(850) 449-4841
www.signalcharlie.net
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Drug pellet swallowers trying to get into U.S. at Dallas airport
Customs officers in Baltimore seized 100 heroin-filled pellets that were swallowed in a
smuggling attempt by a Dutch traveler arriving at Baltimore-Washington International
Airport on March 27, 2009. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)
We wrote on Wednesday about a man who was arrested after arriving Saturday at
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport from Guatemala with 70 pellets of heroin in his
gut.
Nine days earlier, another man arrived at the airport from Guatemala after swallowing
75 pellets of heroin.
Luis Miguel Amezquita admitted what he had done to U.S. Customs officials when he was
interviewed at the airport, according to a federal complaint.
And then, after an X-Ray confirmed the smuggling scheme, it was off to the hospital to
pass those pellets while customs agents watched.
Just like Walter Lippmann-Avilez would do nine days later.
Both men are now facing federal drug dealing charges.
It's an old trick. And a dangerous one.
People have been getting busted for gulping drug-laden pellets for decades. In December
1992, for example, a man arrived in Houston from El Salvador after swallowing 115
cocaine-filled pellets.
That's not even the current record. Not even close.
In March 2012, British newspaper The Daily Mirror reported that a Nigerian woman set
the new mark by swallowing 180 pellets of heroin before embarking on a trip to
Washington D.C.
Bola Adebisi, 52, told customs officials she had come to the U.S. to visit her brother but
couldn't describe him or provide his address. Officials who patted her down thought her
stomach was "abnormally rigid," according to the article.
It's an extremely dangerous way to smuggle drugs. Federal authorities say someone
could die if an ingested pellet breaks, releasing large amounts of drugs into the system.
Amezquita, known by law enforcement as a "swallower," told customs agents he stood to
earn $4,000 if he made it to New York and passed the pellets.
"He needed the money," the federal complaint said.
http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2013/07/drug-pellet-swallowers-trying-to-get-into-u-s-
at-dallas-airport.html/
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NASA Debugs Buggy Airplane Wings
NASA's best minds have sometimes been accused of having their heads in the clouds,
but they are also often concerned with more mundane things, like bugs and how to
debug buggy airplane wings.
Why would bugs sticking on airplane wings be a topic of interest to anyone at NASA?
Bug residue creates a drag on airplane wings, which costs an estimated 5 percent more
per year in fuel costs to airlines, that's why. If the problem of debugging buggy airplane
wings could ever be solved, it could could theoretically save the airlines $2.3 billion
dollars.
The extra added layer of bug guts has a term used to describe it. According to NASA
engineer Fayette Collier, it's called a "turbulent boundary layer."
Perhaps this is because it sounds more impressive when the mothers of NASA engineers
in charge of solving this problem say: "My son is trying to solve the turbulent boundary
layer problem airlines face," rather than saying something like: "My son? Oh, he works
with bug guts. Yes, it's a real NASA job, or so he tells me...."
Seriously, bug residue on the wings of airplanes really is a huge fuel-waster on
commercial flights. Fayette Collier leads a team that's exploring ways to solve that
problem.
Collier heads up the ERA Project. That isn't, in this case, an acronym for either Earned
Run Average or Equal Rights Amendment; instead, ERA stands for NASA's giant
Environmentally Responsible Aviation project.
The project's headquarters is at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, and
their mission is to find novel ways to save fuel, reduce noise, and cut back on harmful
nitrogen oxide emissions from air travel.
Collier and his team are tackling the problem of how to debug buggy airplane wings
using a combination of manufacturing techniques and coatings.
According to Collier:
We found that it's not one or the other, that you have to have them in concert. So we
kind of bake in the coating while we are manufacturing the leading edge of the wing."
Other projects involving airplanes that NASA are working on include developing futuristic
designs like that of the remotely-piloted X-48. They've already flown more than 100 test
flights of the remote piloted X-48 from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in
California.
According to NASA, the X-48s hybrid wing body is both quiet and efficient.
Yet another NASA project is to design a propulsion system for planes which integrates
the propulsion system on top of the aircraft. The engines would be on top of the plane
instead of underneath the wings.
NASA engineers have culled out eight promising ideas from dozens of proposals, that will
be tested in applied-technology, and real-world demonstrations. Corporations such as
Boeing, Pratt & Whitney and GE are a few of the corporations working with NASA and
positioned to benefit from the technology.
What are the costs and the benefits of debugging buggy airplane wings?
The ERA project is costing taxpayers $70 million dollars a year. The six-year
development effort will continue through 2015, when it is scheduled to end.
By 2015, according to NASA researchers, they would like to reduce:
...aircraft drag by 8 percent, weight by 10 percent, engine specific fuel consumption by
15 percent, oxides of nitrogen emissions of the engine by 75 percent and noise by one-
eighth of current standards."
Discovering a non-stick bug surface, alone, could save airlines 5 percent in fuel costs
and, as mentioned earlier in this article, theoretically save the airlines $2.3 billion
dollars.
That's a pretty good savings for figuring out a way to debug buggy airplane wings, and
it's just one of the many projects NASA engineers are working on.
http://guardianlv.com/2013/07/nasa-debugs-buggy-airplane-wings/
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GRADUATE RESEARCH SURVEY
My name is Joseph Arnold. I am graduate student with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University.
I am in the process of working on my Capstone project. My project is to assess the
accident rates of Regional Carriers
and determine the underlying cause(s). I intend on comparing Regional carriers to Major
Airlines as a comparative study.
I have developed a survey for this purpose. I seek to survey active FAR Part 121 pilots of
Regional Carriers and Major Airlines.
You were refered to me as a person whom I could contact to distribute my survey to
participants.
The link is below:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FSKVR8R
I would appreciate your assistance greatly.
Respectfully,
Joseph Arnold
Curt Lewis